death of emporor tewodros?

Question

ethiopian history

Answer 1

Emperor Tewodros II was born Kassa Haile Giorgis, (often refered to as Kassa Hailu), the son of a minor nobleman of Qwara district of Dembia, a region of western Beghemider province bordering on the Sudan. His mother was named Woizero Attitegeb, and may have been a gentlewoman from Gondar. Although Emperor Tewodros II is often refered to as a non-royal userper, he did claim that father was decended from Emperor Fasiledes through a daughter. Many of his contemporaries however did not believe that he was of Imperial blood

Death
On Easter Monday, 1868, the British assaulted the mountain fortress of Magdalla and stormed the citadel. The Ethiopian forces fought valiantly but in vain, they were soon overwhelmed. The British began to sweep through the citadel and the Emperor's residence on Magdalla looking for Tewodros. What they found would stun them. Seeing that all was lost, and that he was about to face the humiliation of captivity, Tewodros II, King of Kings and Emperor of Ethiopia had picked up the pistol sent to him years earlier by Queen Victoria, placed the barrel in his mouth and had shot himself. The English soldiers who found his body at first began to rip his clothing for souveniers, horiffying the Ethiopian captives as barbaric and un-Christian. Napier arrived on the scene and angrily ordered the soldiers to halt the desicration of the Emperor's body. He ordered a guard of honor to guard the body, and ordered another guard of honor to stand attendance on the widowed Empress Tiruwork and her little son Alemayehu Tewodros. All remaining prisoners at Magdalla were freed, and order restored. Napier than earned the respect of the Ethiopians by ordering a full military funeral for Emperor Tewodros at the Church of Medhane Alem (Savior of the World), complete with canon being fired and soldiers saluting the body as it passed. The Empress and the Emperor's relatives were kept away from the funeral, because of the British fear that Tewodros's enemies, prevented by his death of exacting revenge upon him, might attack his family. Tewodros's houshold and followers wailed and wept for "the Lion of Magdalla" and the dirge singers praised him for choosing a proud death over the humiliation of captivity.

Answer 2

Tewodros I-died in battle against Muslim foes.
Tewodros II-commited suicide after being defeated by a British force.